WSJ - Bill Gates Quits Facebook ...
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has stopped using the Web site Facebook, the most damning indictment in a week full of bad press for social-networking technology. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has stopped using the Web site Facebook, the most damning indictment in a week full of bad press for social-networking technology.
Social-networking Web sites, which help people share and find information about one another, were supposed to change the way people use the Internet and the way we work. But lately, all we’re hearing about are the problems.
Workers who created profiles on Facebook are horrified to find out they can’t be erased, the New York Times reports. Even if you deactivate your account, Facebook still keeps a copy of all the information you ever posted. And, the Times reports, it’s still possible to contact people through deleted Facebook pages.
And it’s not just older worker who realize they’ve inadvertently given colleagues insight into their private lives that are upset: The MySpace generation is getting sick of MySpace, too, according to MSNBC. They’re turned off by too much advertising on social-networking sites. That’s one reason the amount of time the average person spends on a social-networking site has dropped 14% over the last four months, according to Internet research company comScore.
If that weren’t enough, Computerworld recently regurgitated a handful of reasons why the sites aren’t appropriate for the workplace. The highlights: They use up too much bandwidth; they cause employees to waste time; and there’s a chance that someone will disclose sensitive information.
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